What Are the Features of TencentOS Server?
TencentOS Server is a Linux OS developed by Tencent Cloud for cloud scenarios. It provides specific feature and performance optimizations, delivering higher performance and a more secure and reliable runtime environment for applications in CVM instances. TencentOS Server includes the TencentOS kernel (TK) developed by the Tencent OS team, which is deeply optimized for cloud environments to bring the latest Linux innovations to the market.
Built for the cloud and deeply customized, TencentOS Server is developed for CVM scenarios. It has the TencentOS kernel (TK) built in, with CPU scheduling, memory management, network stack, and I/O performance deeply optimized for cloud environments. It works out of the box without complex configuration.
Secure and compliant, with hot patch support: it provides a comprehensive security vulnerability management and remediation mechanism and supports kernel hot patching, allowing zero-downtime fixes for kernel vulnerabilities without restarting the system.
Long-term support: it adopts a 10+3 year maintenance model, with each major version maintained for 10 years and extendable by 3 years on demand, and is backed by a strong operations support team.
A high-performance OS designed specifically for cloud scenarios and fully optimized: it deeply adapts to all Tencent Cloud CVM instance types, supports mainstream architectures such as x86_64 and ARM64, and is deeply optimized for cloud-based scenarios.
What Versions of TencentOS Server Are Currently Available and What Are the Differences Between Them?
TencentOS Server currently provides three major versions:
TencentOS Server 2.4 : Its user space is compatible with CentOS 7 / RHEL 7, and the current distribution is TencentOS Server 2.4.
TencentOS Server 3 : Its user space is compatible with CentOS 8 / RHEL 8, and the current distribution is TencentOS Server 3.
TencentOS Server 4 : an independently evolved commercial distribution backed by the OpenCloudOS community, with both the kernel and user space software independently evolved based on the upstream community.
What Are the Kernel Baselines for TencentOS Server Versions?
The kernel baselines for each version are as follows:
|
TencentOS Server 2.4 | Deeply optimized based on Linux 5.4 LTS |
TencentOS Server 3 | Deeply optimized based on Linux 5.4 LTS |
TencentOS Server 4 | Deeply optimized based on Linux 6.6 LTS |
What Is the Lifecycle of TencentOS Server?
The lifecycle of TencentOS Server follows a 10+3 year model: each major version is maintained for 10 years and can be extended by 3 years on demand (with an additional purchase), in three stages. bugfix and security patch updates are continuously provided before the lifecycle ends. The EOL dates for each version are as follows:
|
TencentOS Server 2.4 | December 31, 2029 | December 31, 2032 |
TencentOS Server 3 | December 31, 2029 | December 31, 2032 |
TencentOS Server 4 | April 30, 2033 | April 30, 2036 |
What New Features Does TencentOS Server 4 Have and Is It a Stable Version?
TencentOS Server 4 is the official version released by Tencent in 2023. It is a stable version that has been deployed at scale in production, reliably supporting core businesses such as social networking, gaming, Tencent Cloud, and AI. Key new features include:
New kernel: built with the Linux 6.6 LTS stable kernel.
AI ecosystem support: provides comprehensive support for the AI ecosystem and open support for over 40 mainstream GPUs and NPUs.
Compiler upgrade: ships with TGCC12 (based on GCC 12.3.1), delivering a performance improvement of 10%+ compared to TencentOS Server 3.
What Are the Compatibility Relationships Between Versions and CentOS/RHEL?
|
TencentOS Server 2.4 | CentOS 7 / RHEL 7 | The user space is compatible with CentOS 7 / RHEL 7, and applications developed on CentOS/RHEL can run directly. |
TencentOS Server 3 | CentOS 8 / RHEL 8 | The user space is customized and developed based on RHEL 8.X, is compatible with RHEL 8, and can replace CentOS 8. |
TencentOS Server 4 | Does not depend on third-party distributions | No longer depends on CentOS/RHEL; however, the user space environment partially maintains compatibility design. |
The user space environments of TencentOS Server 2.4 and TencentOS Server 3 both maintain compatibility with CentOS, allowing applications developed on CentOS to run directly on the corresponding TencentOS Server versions.
How to Use TencentOS Server on Tencent Cloud?
Tencent Cloud provides public images for three versions of TencentOS Server. You can select an image on the CVM purchase page to get started, or choose a TencentOS Server image when reinstalling the system on an existing CVM instance. The OS itself incurs no additional license fees, and users only pay for the compute resources of the CVM instance. What CVM Instance Types Does TencentOS Server Support?
TencentOS Server supports all CVM instance types, including various instance families such as Standard, Compute, Memory, High IO, Big Data, and GPU. You can select an image on the CVM purchase page to get started. Can TencentOS Server Be Installed and Used Locally?
Yes. The TencentOS Server distribution ISO can be downloaded from the Tencent Cloud software repository.
Is TencentOS Server Free of Charge?
TencentOS Server is free to use and free for commercial use. Users only pay for the compute resource fees of the CVM instance itself (CVM fees), and the OS itself incurs no additional license fees. Users can continuously receive updates, maintenance, and technical support from the Tencent OS team. How to Install and Upgrade Software After Using TencentOS Server?
Package management commands vary by version:
TencentOS Server 2.4: supports managing software packages with the yum command.
TencentOS Server 3: supports managing software packages with the yum and dnf commands.
TencentOS Server 4: primarily uses the dnf command to manage software packages.
Software updates for all versions can be obtained from the official Tencent Cloud software repository (mirrors.tencent.com).
How to Migrate to TencentOS Server After CentOS Reaches End of Maintenance?
Tencent Cloud provides official migration tools and comprehensive migration guides. The recommended migration paths are as follows:
Migrate CentOS 7 series to TencentOS Server 2.4
Migrate CentOS 8 series to TencentOS Server 3
The migration process includes: pre-migration check > distribution switch (in-place replacement) > migration prediction check > reboot verification. A reboot is required after migration to enter the TencentOS Server kernel. For detailed steps, see CentOS to TencentOS Server Migration Guide. The official migration tool is named migrate2tencentos. It is provided as an RPM package and works with the TOSAM automation platform for batch management. It performs non-intrusive in-place replacement through standard SSH access.
Supported source OSs (in-place replacement). If needed, contact Tencent Cloud sales personnel to obtain them:
CentOS 7 series (CentOS 7.x 64-bit) > Target TencentOS Server 2.4
CentOS 8 series (CentOS 8.0/8.2/8.3/8.4 64-bit) > Target TencentOS Server 3
It also supports compatible RHEL, Oracle Linux, and other systems from the same source.
Does the Business Need Adaptation After Migration and How Is Compatibility?
After migration, business applications typically require no significant adaptation. The TencentOS Server user space environment remains compatible with CentOS, allowing applications developed on CentOS to run directly on TencentOS Server.
Note:
Compatibility requires special attention in the following cases: business applications that depend on a fixed gcc version (TencentOS Server 2.4 uses gcc 4.8.5, and TencentOS Server 3 uses gcc 8.5), applications that depend on specific kernel modules or kernel versions, and third-party software packages installed from non-standard software sources. It is recommended to perform a migration prediction check before migration and verify business functionality after migration.
How Does TencentOS Server Ensure System Security?
TencentOS Server ensures system security through multi-layered security mechanisms. Tencent Cloud guarantees the security of the TencentOS Server system in the following aspects:
With a self-developed vulnerability management platform, vulnerability intelligence is obtained from third-party intelligence platforms and the Yunding Lab as information sources, and then rapidly analyzed, reproduced, and verified for fixes. A dedicated TencentOS Security Incident Response Team (TSIRT) is established to ensure rapid closed-loop response to major security vulnerabilities.
In collaboration with Tencent security teams, it supports security scanning and security hardening for TencentOS Server.
Regularly evaluate CVE patches from mainstream communities, regularly update user space software packages, and fix security vulnerabilities.
Use Tencent Cloud CWPP to perform regular system security checkups and publish security alerts and remediation plans for users.
It supports kernel hot patching, allowing zero-downtime fixes for kernel vulnerabilities without restarting the system.
TencentOS Server 4 introduces kernel module signature verification (CONFIG_MODULE_SIG) and UEFI Secure Boot support to ensure system startup and runtime integrity.
Can the Source Code of TencentOS Server Be Viewed?
TencentOS Server is fully open source. You can obtain it in the following ways:
To obtain the kernel source code, contact Tencent sales personnel.
Use the yumdownloader --source <package_name> command on the system to obtain the source RPM of the corresponding software package.
Does TencentOS Server Support Hot Patching (Hot Upgrades)?
Supported. TencentOS Server provides kernel hot patching (Livepatch / Hotpatch), which can fix kernel defects and vulnerabilities without restarting the system or interrupting services.
Implementation: supported by the tencentos-hotpatches software package. Each new hot patch package includes all previously fixed hot patches, ensuring cumulative fixes.
How to obtain: After the OS team fixes the identified issues, customers can contact their assigned sales personnel to obtain the packages and install them directly through the package manager (TencentOS Server 2/TencentOS Server 3 use yum install, and TencentOS Server 4 uses dnf install).
Applicable versions: TencentOS Server 2/3/4 are all supported.
Does TencentOS Server Support 32-Bit Applications and Libraries?
Currently, only TencentOS Server 2.4 supports installing some 32-bit (i686) software packages and compatibility libraries through yum, allowing some 32-bit applications to run. TencentOS Server 3 and 4 are primarily 64-bit and do not include 32-bit multilib repositories by default. To run 32-bit applications, you are advised to use containerization or compile 32-bit compatibility libraries yourself. As the industry gradually phases out 32-bit support, you are advised to use the 64-bit architecture directly for new services.
What Is the TencentOS Server AI Image and What Scenarios Is It Suitable For?
The TencentOS Server AI image is an AI-Ready image product built by Tencent Cloud based on TencentOS Server 4. It is available in two types:
TencentOS AI enhanced image (public image): an AI-Ready public image based on TencentOS Server 4, with core components preinstalled for AI Agent development and deployment (such as Python, Node.js, and Docker). It is suitable for scenarios such as AI Agent deployment, rapid agent deployment on GPU instances, private model deployment, and AI-assisted Ops (performing Ops operations such as disk diagnosis and CPU flame graph analysis through natural language).
TencentOS AI container images: an out-of-the-box AI container image set officially optimized and maintained by Tencent Cloud, with adapted and optimized AI frameworks, acceleration libraries, and runtime environments preinstalled (such as NVIDIA Driver, CUDA, and cuDNN). They are suitable for scenarios such as AI training and inference, large model deployment, and deep learning development.
TencentOS Server 4 fully supports the AI ecosystem, with open support for over 40 mainstream GPU/NPU models (including brands such as NVIDIA and AMD) and compatibility with 30+ AI frameworks.